What We Learned, Jan. 21-Jan. 27

A random collection of this week's randomness randomly tagged with random observations of what we learned from it.

JAN. 21: Orange County's Democratic establishment is thrown into a tizzy as Julio Perez, formerly of the Orange County Labor Federation, handily gets more votes than his 69th Assembly District primary opponents: former vanilla Anaheim mayor/current County Clerk-Reporter Tom Daly and cell phone train abuser and Santa Ana City Councilwoman Michele Martinez. What we learned: Democrats instead of Republicans will be feasting on their own for a change.
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JAN. 22: After nearly four years in operation, Garden Grove's Unit D medical marijuana collective finally shuts its doors. It's been a slow death. Unit D was raided in December 2009. Its owners were later convicted for operations at two Long Beach-area pot clinics. New management took over the Garden Grove locale, but the final nail in the “cough-in” seems to be the city suspending its registration program for collectives. What we learned: The buyer pool for the illegal drug underworld is about to get bigger.

JAN. 23: During a hearing that lasts nine minutes, a jury in Santa Ana announces Nanette Ann Packard is guilty of the 1994 ambush
killing of her boyfriend, wealthy Newport Beach businessman William McLaughlin. The 46-year-old shows no emotion as the verdict is revealed, but her adult daughter weeps. Packard is scheduled to learn her fate May 18, when the judge also sentences her partner in crime, former New England Patriots linebacker Eric Naposki. What we learned: She's a greedy, thieving slut and a murderer.

JAN. 24: Daniel P. Morgan, the Navy medic responsible for clearing San Clemente
High School classrooms on the first day of school after Camp Pendleton
officials discovered he'd scribbled bomb fantasies involving the campus, pleads guilty to unauthorized absence and disorderly conduct in military court. The 22-year-old is ordered to forfeit $3,976 of pay, be demoted to the
lowest pay grade and spend another four
months in the brig to go with the 137 days he has already served. What we learned: Two words: invisible ink.

JAN. 25: Moxley reports that during a public debate in the race for county supervisor, Villa Park's vile City Councilwoman Deborah Pauly told her opponent–former supervisor, state assemblyman and county prosecutor Todd Spitzer–“You're like the male Gloria Allred. You're always trying to get your name in the news.” Since both are die-hard Republicans (Pauly teabags as well), them's fighting words. What we learned: And we're back to Republicans eating their own. (Subliminal message to Todd-o: Next time she pulls that shit, fire back, “Oh yeah? Well, you're like Mickey Conroy . . . only less feminine.”

JAN. 26: Jim Gilchrist emails Gustavo a copy of a story from Columbia University's student newspaper that has the campus'
College Republicans wanting to invite the controversial Minuteman Project founder back. When the immigration reform activist from Aliso Viejo spoke in Columbia's auditorium in 2006, a riot broke out. What we learned: Ivy Leaguers riot?

JAN. 27: Jared Petrovich and Garrett Aguilar, two of six former Theo Lacy Jail inmates charged in the Oct. 6, 2006, beating death of John Chamberlain, a Rancho Santa Margarita software engineer facing trial for possessing child pornography, are sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Petrovich had previously informed the Weekly deputies told inmates that Chamberlain was a child molester. No deputies were brought up on charges. What we learned: The more things stay the same around here, the more they don't change.

Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the paper’s first calendar editor. He went on to be managing editor, executive editor and is now senior staff writer.